The police bring Vinod Kumar to Manganam for evidence collection. Kottayam: A day after a headless body was found at Manganam near here, the police claimed to have identified the deceased and the suspected murderers on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Santhosh, 40, a resident of Malakunnam, Payyappadi near Puthuppalli. A mahout by profession, Santhosh is also an accused in some criminal cases.
The head of the man was recovered from a canal near Macroni bridge. The police also arrested history-sheeter and gangster A.R. Vinod Kumar alias Kammal Vinod and his wife Kunjumol in connection with the incident.
The parts of the body were found in two sacks near a culvert at Mandiram, Manganam, when the local people searched the area following an unbearable stench wafted in the air for the past three days. The bundles were found in a thicket in a private land. The body had started decomposing and insects and worms started consuming it. The man wore a blue shirt and saffron mundu (dhoti). The dhoti was found stuffed into the sack. A pair of blue rubber footwear and a currency of Rs 10 were also recovered from the sack.
Grudge, jealousy led to the murder
When Vinod was in jail for killing his father, Santhosh allegedly tried to get closer to Kunjumol, wife of the former. The vendetta over this was the motive behind the murder, according to the police. The police got the information that Vinod had threatened Santhosh on the veranda of a court recently. Both had been brought to the court for a trial in another case in which they were co-accused.
Woman cops with Kunjumol on the spot from where santhosh's body was found. The police questioned Vinod and his wife separately and got some clues from Kunjumol which helped them identify the body. Later, when the head was recovered from a nearby drain, the whole story of the murder unraveled quickly.
In a bid to identify the body, the police had examined the list of persons missing from the district and found that Santhosh was missing since 24 August. Immediately, the police reached the house of Santhosh and searched it.
Santhosh's father told the police that Kunjumol had rung up Santhosh on August 24. As his son was asleep at that time, he attended the call instead, the father said. This prompted the police to zero in on the couple.
Moments of shock, anxiety
P. T. Baiju, who lives near the plot where the dead body was found, went to the area to dispose waste on Sunday morning. He saw the body parts when he was digging a pit to dump the waste. Shocked, Baiju and brother Biju immediately alerted the police. The news of the dead body in sacks spread like wildfire and people began to throng the sides of the road and nearby plots. The police had to intervene several times to control the mob.
Two people search for the severed head of Santhosh in a canal near Manganam as per police's direction. Appu, the sniffer dog, was brought in. And forensic experts also reached the spot. The body parts were taken out from the sacks in the presence of the forensic experts. Only the legs of the body were projecting out of the bundle, raising doubts whether it was of a woman or man. People also grew curious about the other sack lying close by.
It was only when the remains of the body were taken out by tearing off the plastic sacks that the people realized that the head was missing and the body was of a male. The dead body was taken to Kottayam medical college hospital for postmortem by 3 pm on Sunday.
Patricide charges pending against Vinod
Vinod had been in jail for allegedly killing his father. He got out on bail recently. The police suspect that his wife Kunjumol is also a party to the crime.
The cops arrested Vinod for thrashing his father to death when he was staying in the quarters meant for corporation employees at Muttambalam in Kottayam. The incident took place on February 5. Though the police registered a case of unnatural death initially, it was proved a murder later. Even the ribs of the deceased had been fractured in the brutal attack by his son. Vinod's mother was a part-time employee of the corporation and he was staying in the quarters on this count. Now, Vinod is staying at Meenadam.
Police and people look on as search for the severed head of Santhosh progresses in a canal at Manganam. After getting out on bail on 22 May, Vinod used to appear before Kottayam East CI regularly, until 10 August, as mandated by the conditions of the bail. The police grew doubtful about his involvement in the present murder when they collected call details of Santhosh and Vinod. The details of the incident came out after Vinod and Kunjumol were questioned by a team led by DySP Sakharia Mathew and CI Saju Varghese.
Diligent planning
- The body of Santhosh was chopped into pieces after killing him by hitting on head.
- Ensured that all the blood had drained out, before slicing the body.
- If the body had been cut alive, the parts and flesh would have broken into pieces.
- The head and body were severed with precision.
- No blood stains in clothes. It is suspected that the clothes were put on after the murder.
- The testicles of the deceased had been mutilated.
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